The International Army Games

YEKATERINBURG, August 2. /TASS/. The Russian team is leading in the first race within the first stage of the Masters of Artillery Fire contest of the International Army Games, the press service of Russia’s Central Military District reported on Tuesday.

The competition is held at a range in the Zailiyskiy Alatau foothills in Kazakhstan.

"The mortar crew of the Russian team under the command of junior sergeant Dmitry Kubyshkin has clocked the fastest time at the start of the international competition Masters of Artillery Fire. The Russian servicemen overcome the obstacle course in 17 minutes and 43 seconds," the press service said.

The first lap of the individual race involved two mortar crews from Russia and one - from Angola, Kyrgyzstan and China each. The crew comprises four members. Representatives of Kazakhstan finished just one second behind the Russian team. "All the targets were hit at the first attempt. The shooting was carried out from the 122 mm mortar Sani, RPG-7V grenade launcher and the PKT machine gun on targets at a distance from 300 to 5,000 meters," the district press service said.

Teams of six countries - Angola, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China and Russia take part in the contest. The Russian team comprises three mortar crews from the Mikhailovskaya Artillery Military Academy, the Eastern and Central military districts - the winners and awardees of the all-army stage of the competition.

The international stage of the competition is held in the territory of Kazakhstan at the Gvardeisky training ground of the 40th military base (Korday district, Jambyl region) from August 2 to 9, 2016.

The International Army Games are held between July 30 and August 13 simultaneously at 20 training grounds, where 19 of them are at three Russia’s military districts: Western, Southern and Central: from Siberia to Kaliningrad in the west and from St. Petersburg to Sevastopol in Crimea.

Naval competitions take place in the waters of the Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas. This year, unlike in previous years, the Games take place in two countries - in Russia and in Kazakhstan. The Games’ program has 23 competitions in field, air and marine training. Eleven countries have sent over their representatives to observe the competitions. A total of 121 teams from 19 countries participate in 23 contests of the Games.

The largest teams are from China and Kazakhstan. The Chinese military take part in 22 competitions, and the team from Kazakhstan - in 21. The Russian team is involved in all the 23 competitions.